Porsche: Revenue Down By 30 Percent

BERLIN (AP) -- Porsche Automobil Holding SE said Friday that revenue for its August-October period was down by 30.5 percent at euro1.1 billion ($1.6 billion). Total revenue was at euro26.8 billion, a decline pinned on its consolidation of Volkswagen AG.

The company said because of the consolidation it wasn't possible to provide a comparison to figures from last year.

Shares of Porsche SE were down 1.3 percent to euro44.05 in Frankfurt trading while Volkswagen shares were down 2.5 percent to euro78.

The Stuttgart-based company said in a statement that car sales went down by 41 percent in the three-months period to 11,385 cars.

Last week, Volkswagen, based in Wolfsburg, bought an initial 49.9 percent stake in fellow car maker Porsche AG for euro3.9 billion. VW has made no secret of its plans to take Porsche over completely by 2011, adding the brand to its stable that includes luxury car makers Audi and Bentley, as well as more inexpensive and accessible Skoda, Seat and VW.

Porsche accumulated heavy debt in a failed attempt to take over larger auto maker Volkswagen, with which it is now slated to merge.

Former chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking and chief financial officer Holger Haerter, who had championed the takeover drive, stepped down in July.